Page 31 of Willow Vale

My first weekworking at The Rusty Pint went by without a hitch, much to my utter shock.

The more I took orders, the more I concentrated on remembering how to make certain cocktails, the faster I got behind the bar. I didn’t initiate a lot of conversations but occasionally I’d run into a familiar face. Some were kind and greeted me with a smile, while others whispered amongst themselves when I walked past.

Pushing all those things to the back of my mind, I could admit I was having a good time working there. A surprise seeing as I constantly worried about River. After the third day of my pestering Amelia, the woman finally told me to calm the hell down and focus on work for a change. Those weren’t her exact words, but I could sense that was where our conversation would go if I didn’t trust her to watch my kid. I’d known the Adlers long enough to know that I could trust them. All of them. Though, sometimes it was hard to ignore my worries.

I’d half expected River to get tired of being dropped off at the ranch after the third day. But that wasn’t the case.

Amelia spoiled him with baked goods and Desmond took him around the ranch.

In fact, this morning River had woken up before me, begging me to take him to visit the ranch so that he could watch the guys work. Wanting to be around them as much as he could. Not that I could blame him. He was always with me and, while he loved me, I knew he was missing a male figure in his life.

A father.

Before I knew it, Sunday rolled in and with it the Adlers’ family dinner.

Pulling up to the main house as the sun began to settle beyond the peaks of the mountains surrounding the ranch, casting an orange glow across the grassy fields, I was buzzing with nervous energy. The beautiful scenery of Silver Hill did little to calm me down when I noticed three trucks parked in front of the house too. One of them I recognized as Travis’s truck.

“It’s just dinner. You got this.” That, and I had to pick River up, otherwise I suspected I would have given Amelia just about any sorry excuse to get out of the dinner. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to sit at a table with the family I’d missed dearly or have Amelia’s amazing home cooked food. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was…me.

I wasscared.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled my nerves and hopped out of the Bronco, the hinges squeaking loud enough when I shut the door that I cringed. The soft breeze blew my curls in my face, and I pushed them away as I walked up the steps.

After my shift, I’d gone home to shower and changed into my favorite lilac sundress. I also applied a little mascara to my eyelashes and a light pink lip gloss. It was the best I could do given I didn’t have the money to buy makeup. Not that Ineeded it. Chasing a little boy around and rushing to get from one place to another didn’t require me to get dolled up. It was nice to do it every now and again, though. My hair was the only thing that was a nightmare to manage.

I was still tucking a rebellious strand behind my ear, hoping it would stay in place, when the front door opened.

“What are you doing standing out here, honey? Come on in! Dinner’s just about ready,” Amelia said before she turned around and strode in without another word, leaving me to trail behind her. “River, look who’s here!”

The sound of River’s excited voice was accompanied by a deep chuckle as I stepped into the entryway of the living room, expecting to find him snuggled up with Desmond on the brown leather couch the same way they had been every night when I came to pick him up. Only, Desmond was the only one sitting there with the remote in his hand. He waved in greeting and motioned across the room with a smile.

My eyes drifted to the wide bay windows overlooking the long stretch of land where River and Travis were sitting on the rug, playing with a bunch of toy cars I hadn’t brought over. Next to them was a cardboard box labeled “kiddos.” They must have been Travis and his siblings’ toys from when they were kids.

River was lying on his belly on the rug, clearly too focused on the new toys to realize I was there. Or that Travis was no longer paying attention to the game they were playing. Because his eyes were waiting for mine.

“Watch out!” River yelled before making a booming sound as he crashed his red sports car right into the toy truck Travis had stopped rolling across the floor.

“You got me again! How do you do it?” Travis pretended to be disappointed as he let River take the truck in his otherlittle hand. Based on the pile of toy cars next to River, it was evident he claimed each of Travis’s toys as his.

River giggled. “You’re too slow, Travis. You have to move out of the way next time. I keep telling you!”

“I keep forgetting. I promise, next time I’ll try harder.” Travis ruffled River’s hair with an affection that melted my heart into mush. It was so strange seeing another man who wasn’t our grandfather play with River. Every time I spotted Desmond cradling him in his bulky arm while River dozed off on the couch, it caused a lump to form in my throat.

Right now wasn’t so different.

Seeing Travis spending time with River made my heart soar.

He was lying on his side next to my brother, one fist propped up against his cheek. To anyone else, Travis wasn’t doing something worthy of admiration. He was just playing with a little kid.

But no one other than me, and Desi on occasion, bothered trying to spend time with River like this.

Travis exuded this protective nature whenever he was in a room, just like he had when he’d confronted Victor at the bar. Something that still left me speechless. He’d protected me despite the fact that I hadn’t asked him to, didn’t expect it either, but he’d done it all the same.

If it came down to it, I knew he’d protect River too.

It was just who he was deep down.

Travis tilted his head to the side as he took in the shift of my expression, a small crease forming between his brows. He tapped River’s shoulder and murmured something before my brother’s little head whipped in my direction.

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